About the event The Fourteenth Annual Latino Trendsetter Awards, a landmark celebration of excellence in enterprise, arts, entertainment, health, education and community leadership, will be held at on Tuesday, May 10th, 2016 from 6-10 P.M. at The Symphony Space Theater in New York City. The event is sponsored in part by New York Presbyterian Hospital, Inca Kola and CUNY. Media (sweepstakes) partners are;La Mega 97.9 & Amor 93.1and presented by LatinTRENDS. It will commence with a VIP red carpet reception, attended by awardees, influencers and media.The award presentation will be partially open to the public and special guest and will start at 8PM. It will feature a musical performances by Frankie Negron , a multi-cultural dance performance featuring tango, flamenco, salsa and bachata music. Emerging urban Tropical musician, Doñé, will perform live as well.

The Event will be co-hosted by Actress, speaker and author, April Hernandez Castillo and Luxury Real Estate Broker and star of Bravo’s Emmy-Nominated Million Dollar Listing New York, Luis D. Ortiz

Meet JohnnyJohnny Marines a native New Yorker from the Lower East Side, has been a monumental force in the meteoric rise to stardom for the Latin American group Aventura and more recently, Bachata star, Romeo Santos, who brought Johnny on board to continue being his manager.

Romeo Santos launched his solo career in 2011, with the critically acclaimed “Formula Vol. 1”, which is Five times platinum and had five #1 hits (the first artist do to so in nearly 16 years). Romeo won the Billboard Award for the Latin Album of the year, MTV VMA Award as Best Latino Music Artist, 2 Premio Juventud Awards, 3 Latin Billboard Awards including Album of the Year, and was nominated for an Alma Award as Favorite Male Music Artist and an American Grammy for Best Tropical Album. His Formula Vol. 1 Tour was sold out domestically and internationally, visiting over 60 cities and 3 sold out shows at the World’s Most Famous Arena, Madison Square Garden, with the production of a DVD reliving this moment in history, “The King Stays King”, on sale. In September 2013, Romeo and Johnny were invited to the White House again for the Musica Latina https://www.latintrends.com/meet-newarks-first-female-puerto-rican-police-chief/event in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month.

In February 2014, Romeo released his second solo album, Formula Vol. 2, has been awarded by RIAA with a Diamond certification and has won 3 Soberano Awards, 5 Premio Juventud Awards, 6 Premio lo Nuestro Awards, had a record-breaking 21 nominations for the Latin Billboard Awards in 2015, taking home 10 of them, and has won the 2015 American Billboard Award for Top Latin Artist. The first leg of his Formula Vol. 2 World Tour was sold out, including two historic nights at Yankee Stadium, making him the first Latin artist to ever headline and sell out a show at the world’s most prestigious ballpark joining the ranks of Madonna and Paul McCartney on the very short list of solo artists to ever achieve such a feat. And in 2015, Santos’ global appeal has reached an unparalleled level, selling out stadiums across the world from the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Colombia, and Argentina, to Spain and across Europe. Romeo closed out his second sold-out leg of the Formula Vol. 2 World Tour with three sold-out nights at the Barclays Center, the first Latin artist to do so. The success of Marines’ work ethic can be measured by the Romeo Santos’ rapid growth, which continues to extend into new markets today, far from his humble South Bronx roots. Just this year, Johhny has sat on the “Hola, can you hear me” panel at the 2015 Latin Billboard Music conference and the Managers: The start of big business panel at the 2015 Revolt Music Conference, he also has been selected as a “Latin Power Player” by Billboard for being one of the 20 most influential people in Latin music. The feature article is scheduled to be in the August 2015 Billboard magazine.

Before entering the music business, Johnny was an NYPD sergeant. During his tenure as a police officer, which included the height of the crack epidemic in the 90s, Johnny made and assisted in more than 1,000 arrests. Throughout his career, Marines was awarded 12 Excellent Police Duty medals as well as 4 Meritorious Police Duty medals for 4 separate Bribery arrests.

Despite all of his success, Johnny Marines has not forgotten his humble roots he came from. Johnny has dedicated a large portion of his time, effort and resources to giving back to his community. In conjunction with Aventura, Marines has co-funded toy drives in New York and the Dominican Republic; he has donated turkeys for hundreds of needy families during the holidays; several times a year, Johnny and his mother ship barrels of food to the Dominican Republic and school supplies to low income families to provide them with the tools they need to focus and acquire a quality education; and he has helped coordinate Aventura’s hospital visits to sick children throughout the Metropolitan Area. Also, Johnny has helped to fund and to create a non-profit, Lower East Side Sports Academy, in the Lower East Side of Manhattan which recently partnered with the NYC Police Athletic League and has over 300 young people participating in its third season this summer. Johnny is in the process of establishing the Johnny Marines Blessings Foundation, which is established to foster, support, and fund educational advancement initiatives within New York City.

More recently, Johnny has begun sharing his story. Johnny communicates how he came to be the manager of the most influential Latin American group and now solo artist of our generation. Johnny speaks sincerely of his struggles and mistakes not only growing up in the Lower East Side, but also of the impediments he has had to overcome once in the music industry. Marines lectures on the importance of diligence and always putting your best work forward, and relays his messages in ways that people from all walks of life can relate. Johnny’s story is a true testament to the American Dream, that with hard work, dedication and motivation, anything truly is possible. Johnny has spoken on numerous occasions at Harvard, Columbia, Syracuse, LehmanCollege, and St. John’s University.

About LatinTRENDSLatinTRENDS is a multi-media and marketing company that connects with the acculturated Hispanic community via its flagship monthly print magazine, weekly e-newsletter, daily content on LatinTRENDS.com and events. The brand’s content is bi-lingual, covering the latest trends in entertainment, travel, technology, wellness, business and cuisine, including featured Hispanic professionals & entrepreneurs. Content also covers exclusive interviews with celebrities and innovative people that influence trends in pop culture.

For more information, see other winners and to purchase tickets (limited amount), click here: http://bit.ly/21fgLWf